Coincidentally I was looking into this recently too, Andrew. It is fascinating! I think the film “Gravity” portrayed this well (although it was a bit crap qua film). The bodies absolutely did look mummified.

One of my favorite books of all time is Robert Harris’ Fatherland. Okay, I’ll come clean: Robert Harris is one of my favorite authors of all time. Fatherland was the book that turned him into a best-seller. It […]

I am more price sensitive than ever. $10.99 now seems like too much to pay for an e-book. I’ll take a gamble on $1.99 but not on $5.99 anymore. This is all the fault of indie authors who publish good stuff in the […]

I get your point, Morgana, and this post needed to be written! But as someone who has, yes, uttered the dread words “I don’t like anime” more than once in the past, I have to offer another explanation:

Isn’t it fascinating how readers can come away with such diametrically opposed opinions of the same story? That one pushed all the wrong buttons for me. What was the stand-out story of the anthology for you? (A […]

I was absolutely delighted when I received a review copy of the highly anticipated Dangerous Women. Dozois and Martin have produced a blockbuster anthology with an all-star lineup of authors. Let’s plunge right […]

The food thing is yet another way in which Japan is / was 10-15 years ahead of the West IMO. Some years back I was puzzled (and frankly bored) by my Japanese friends’ tireless enthusiasm for discussing food. Flash […]

Exactly, Will! I could have titled this piece “Against Identitarianism” if I had thought that useful word would be widely enough understood 🙂 As you probably realize, my argument comes from the core belief that […]

The Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year is “selfie.” If you’ve been living, er, in Tokyo with not a lot of time spent on social media, you may be surprised to learn that this is a current slang term for […]

I’m watching this trend carefully, too, Michael. One interesting thing I have noted is that my own behavior as a book buyer has changed. I expect lower prices now and will hesitate to buy an ebook at standard list […]

One’s Aspect to the Sun, by Sherry D. Ramsey, isn’t a good book. It isn’t even an interestingly bad book I might enjoy in a “hated it but it made me think” way. It’s just a semi-pro effort that doesn’t repay the […]